These giant 'drop bears' with opposable thumbs once scaled trees in Australia. But how did they grow so huge?
Although long dead, fossil skeletons provide an incredible window into the lifestyle and environment of an extinct animal.
Although long dead, fossil skeletons provide an incredible window into the lifestyle and environment of an extinct animal.
Paleontology & Fossils
May 12, 2023
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A team of Australian and New Zealand researchers have discovered fresh evidence that could finally unravel the mystery of what killed Tasmania's giant marsupials over 40,000 years ago.
Archaeology
May 28, 2012
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Sometimes, science requires traveling into hazardous environments; sometimes it requires a vast influx of state capital and an army of researchers and technicians. But sometimes, science has to call in the Marines. We reported ...
The enigmatic Tasmanian tiger, known also as the thylacine, was hunted to extinction in the wild at the turn of the 20th century, and the last one died in a Tasmanian zoo in 1936.
Plants & Animals
Apr 18, 2012
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Two tiny fossils are prompting an overhaul of theories about marsupial evolution after they revealed unexpected links to South America – and possibly Africa.
Paleontology & Fossils
Jul 23, 2013
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A University of Florida researcher has co-authored a study tracing the evolution of the modern opossum back to the extinction of the dinosaurs and finding evidence to support North America as the center of origin for all ...
Archaeology
Dec 16, 2009
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Scientists have visualised the short pregnancy of a small species of the kangaroo and wallaby family of marsupials, the tammar wallaby (Macropus eugenii), for the first time by high-resolution ultrasound. The study has shed ...
Plants & Animals
Mar 18, 2013
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Fossils of ancient viruses are preserved in the genomes of all animals, including humans, and have long been regarded as junk DNA. But are they truly junk, or do they actually serve a useful purpose?
Molecular & Computational biology
Sep 8, 2021
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Research published recently in PLoS One delivers new insight about rapid toxin evolution in venomous snakes: pitvipers such as rattlesnakes may be engaged in an arms race with opossums, a group of snake-eating American marsupials. ...
Plants & Animals
Jul 18, 2011
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A major new fossil site has been discovered by UNSW scientists beyond the boundaries of the famous Riversleigh World Heritage area in north-western Queensland.
Archaeology
Aug 5, 2013
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